Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Harbor Explorers, MIT Scientists!

Many of the thousands of young people that Save the Harbor / Save the Bay’s youth environmental education programs serve each summer haven't had many opportunities to interact with marine science first-hand. But on BostonHarbor’s rocky shores and sailing center docks, they can be heard squealing with delight as they catch a minnow in a dip net or hold a lobster for the first time. By the end of each summer, and often just by the end of one day, they can explain more about the intertidal zone and the anatomy of a crab than the average college student. It’s truly amazing how much our children and teens can learn and retain about marine science when they’re having fun. It's what we strive for here every day!

In Summer 2010, the 9,400 kids and teens in the Boston Harbor Explorers and AllAccessBostonHarbor youth programs had the unique opportunity to take their exploration of marine science one step further. They didn’t just transform into individual budding scientists, but became crucial components of a network of thousands of “citizen scientists” across the region through a brand new initiative of Save the Harbor’s youth curriculum. Dr. Judith Pederson, a great friend of Save the Harbor and a professor with MIT’s Sea Grant College Program, enlisted the help of our youth program staff and participants to gather scientific data across the Harbor about its marine wildlife, how its water quality changes from day to day, and how its marine environments differ from location to location across our magnificent natural resource.

And this summer, a new year of Harbor Explorers are joining the effort -- and the fun!

The goal of Dr. Pederson and her team's research tasks is to gather data regarding the abundance, density, size, and gender of invasive crabs on BostonHarbor’s shores - specifically Asian Shore crabs. Using predetermined measurements for a sample area, the kids and teens choose a section of shore at random and collected the crabs they found within the limits. Everyone had a blast chasing the crabs as the scurried under rocks to evade capture. After investigating each crab’s species and gender once it was caught, measurements of its carapace, or body, were also determined and recorded. Each new day our explorers got to analyze how their “crab count” results changed based on the weather and the tides. But most of all, they got so excited that their new role as citizen scientists let them get their hands on so many critters in the process.

The benefits of Citizen Science extend even farther beyond recreational and educational benefits for Greater Boston’s youth. Each of our Citizen Scientists gave MIT researchers another pair of eyes and hands to observe and record new data, making it possible for a just a few researchers to collect large amounts of data and study huge stretches of coastline. Additionally, history has proven to us that some of the most interesting discoveries have been made not by scientists, but by regular citizens volunteering to be a part of understanding our world a little better! So our Harbor Explorers are keeping an eye out for new and unfamiliar things too!

Save the Harbor’s thousands of youth this summerare learning an important lesson: you don’t need a lab coat or beakers filled with brightly colored chemicals to be a scientist. All you need is the eagerness to explore and analyze, and, if you’re lucky, the chance to be part of something greater.

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Welcome!

Save the Harbor/Save the Bayis a non-profit public-interest Boston Harbor environmental advocacy organization whose mission is to restore and protect Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, the Boston Harbor Islands, the Boston Harbor region's public beaches, Boston's waterfront and the marine environment and share them with the public, for everyone to enjoy.

Since 1986, Save the Harbor / Save the Bay has been the driving force behind the transformation of Boston Harbor from one of the dirtiest urban harbors in America to one of the cleanest in the world.

As a result of our advocacy, Boston Harbor has been transformed from a "Harbor of Shame" into a source of recreational, educational and economic opportunity and civic pride. Today the beaches of South Boston are among the cleanest urban beaches in the nation, the Boston Harbor Islands are a National Park, and Boston's waterfront has become a compelling destination for residents and visitors alike.

Working with a broad base of civic, corporate, government, scientific, philanthropic and community partners, Save the Harbor / Save the Bay continues to strengthen the connections between communities and the harbor, and promote the increasingly important impact Boston Harbor has on the region’s economy.

Each year Save the Harbor / Save the Bay runs 2 freeYouth Environmental Education Programs that combine recreation and hands-on education to bring Boston Harbor alive for thousands of Boston area young people. Since 2003, we have connected nearly 250,000 youth and teens to Boston Harbor, the Boston Harbor Islands, our region's public beaches and Boston's waterfront.

Our "Boston Harbor Explorers" program serves thousands of young people at the Courageous Sailing Center in Charlestown, the Piers Park Sailing Center and Constitution Beach in East Boston, DCR's Carson Beach in South Boston, at Community Boating on the Charles River, on Black's Creek in Quincy, and at Camp Harbor View on Long Island and at The Boston Children's Museum.Our"All Access Boston Harbor"program departs weekdays from the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in South Boston, and brings thousands of youth and teens from more than 100 community groups to Georges or Spectacle Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park on the Provincetown II.

OurBetter Beaches Program supports dozens of free events and activities on the region's public beaches each year in Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.

We hope we can count on you as we share Boston Harbor with 30,000 young people on 28 free island excursions and at 40 free events and programs on the region's public beaches in 2018.For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay please visit our website at www.savetheharbor.org